Door attachment for vehicles



Dec. 20, 1932. J. s. BEDFORD DOOR ATTACHMENT FOR VEHICLES Filed NOV. 23, 1951 Patented Dec.V 20, 1932 g n UNI-TED srxrlazsv .ToniaV SAMUEL BEDFORD, or1 frW1cinaavnaiirfy ENGLAND Doon ATTAcnMEnT nonk vnH'IcLEs Appncauon mea November 23, 1931, serial No. 576,638,- and in Great Britain December 1, 1930.

' This invention relates to attachments for doors andis applicable, for example, to doors for road vehicles and for similar purposes.

The object of the invention is to provide an attachment for holding the free edge of the door so as to form an additional support therefor in order to avoid or minimize rattling and vibration of the door.

A further object of the invention is to provide an attachment embodying a socket and plug one associated with the door and the other with the fixedv support therefor, and when the door is in the closed position said plug being entered into and held within said socket.

A still further feature of the invention is to provide a. resiliently mounted thimble within a socket associated with the door or with the fixed support therefor into which thirnble there is adapted to be entered when the door is closed a projecting member or plug associated with the fixed door support or the moving door itself respectively.

A still further object of the invention is to provide means for adjusting the effective internal diameter of a resiliently mounted thimble located within the socket and into which there is adapted to be entered when the door is closed a projectingmember so as to hold the door in such a manner that rattling and vibration is eliminated.k

Further objects will be apparent after consideration of thedescription of the accompanying drawing illustrating embodiments of the invention by wayof example..

l is a perspective view of the component parts of the device in accordance with one form of the invention applicable to a pivotally mounted door, the position ofthe door and its supporting frame being indicated by dotted lines.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the parts of the device with the door in the closed position.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the thimble.

Fig. 4 illustrates a resiliently and contractible Vplug and `Fig. 5 shows a method for positively causing expansion andcontraction of the plug.

Referring to the accompanying drawing,

expansible vtion A conveniently comprises ametal casting.I the plug l being formed integrally therewith or being separately attached in any suitable manner, and is attachedto the vertif cal edge of the door by means of suitable screws `passing through counter-sunk apertures in the vertical face thereof. rThe part B is of any suitable shape, and embodies, at approximately the middle of its length, ahollowed housing C conveniently cast integrally therewith. Fig. 2 of' the drawing is-a section throughfthis` housing and from the figure it will be seen that a thimble 3 formedof metal or other material and 75 which is` split longitudinally, is accommodated within said housing. Fig. 3 illustrates thethimble Vin detail and shows same split longitudinally at 4 to impart Vresilience thereto. The metal thimble however may be l rendered contractible infany: other convenient manner, for example it might be formed with arspirally ,arranged groove orfslot, or it might beprovided with serrations for the f same purpose. x Mounted upon said thimbleand vlocated conveniently between end flangesl 5 at each end thereof, is a resilient sleeve orlayer 6 which is of such a diameter that it may readily be inserted into the housing C. The sleeve or layerfG may conveniently 'be composed of Indi a-rubber. The end of the housing into which the projecting plug l associated with the part A is entered is, in the construction illustrated, inturned 'at its edge to a suitable extent to constitute an` abutment which locates lthe position of the sleeve or layer 6 surrounding the thimble, as will be clearly seen from Fig. 2 of the drawing.` The proportion ofthe outer ianges of the thimble 3 is such that there is a small free space 9 left between the outer edge of the flange and the inner edge of the inturned portion of the housing when the thimble is inserted in position.

The other end of the housing is screw threaded and a screw cap 7 may be adapted to screw into said screwed portion, the cap 7 conveniently embodying an annular depending rim 8 atits under side which serves to come into contact with Vthe lateral edges of the sleeve 6 mounted upon the metal thimble 3 and it will readily be Vunderstood that when the cap 7 is screwed into the housing the depending annular flange 8 of the said cap compresses the sleeve 6 and on account of same being confined with the rigid metal housing C, the Vthimble 3 yields and the efective internal diameter thereof is reduced to grip the plug l 4associated with the part A of the device more tightly. In this manner by adjusting the position `of the screw cap 7 it is possible to obtain a simple adjustment of the gripping action exerted by the thimble 3 upon the projecting plug l and it will readily be understood that there is no metal con nection between the parts A and B when the door is in the closed position, the plug 1 being located within the thimble 8, which is supported solely by the sleeve 6 or layer surrounding same and thus any possibility of vibration or rattling is effectively avoided.

In theconstruction illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 means are provided for rendering the plug expansible and contractible and these arrangements maybe utilized in connection 'with `a non-contractible thimble. In Fig. 4 the plug 21 isprovided with two diametrical slots'lO so as to form a plug of a self expanding nature to secure an effective grip within thethiinble. In Fig. 5 only one slit 10 is shown but a cone-headed screw 1l is 'located within an axial aperture in the plugl to permit an adjustment of the external diameter of the plug byscrewing the part 1l into or out of the plug.

` In the construction illustrated in Fig. 1 lit Yis assumed that the part A is associated with a door which'is Vmounted to `swing upon a vertical axis but the invention may obviously be'utilized in connection with doors of different kinds,fsuch asto sliding doors. Further it will be immediatelyevident that the positions of the parts A and B relatively to the door and thesupporting frame may be reversed, that is to say, the part A with the projecting plug 1 may be associated with the supporting frame lwhile the socket portion `B is associated with thel movable part of Ythe door.

I claim l. An attachment for doors comprising a socket and plug one associated with the moving door `itself and therother with the fixed support therefor,a thimble` within said socket to engage the plug, a layer of resilient material on said thimble and means for adj usting the effective internal diameter of said thimble.

2. An attachment for doors comprising a socket and plug, one associated with the moving door itself and the other with the fixed support therefor, a tliiinblewithin said socket to engage said plug, a non-metallic mounting for said thimble and means for compressing said non-metallic mounting so as to vary the gripping effect of said thimble upon the plug.

3. An attachment for doorswcomprising a socket and plug, one associated with the moving door itself and the other -with the fixed support therefor, a splitv thimble, to engage the plug, a layer of vresilient material carried on said thimble and means for compressing said resilient layer axially to vary the leffective internal diameter of the thimbleand to .adj ust its gripping effect on the plug.

4t. An attachment for doors comprisinga socket and plug, one associated with the mov-` ing door itself, and the other with the fixed support therefor, a thimble within said socket having out-turned flanges at` each end, a sleeve of resilient material carried on said thimble between said out-turned flangesand a screwed member working within said .housi ing to coinpr-ess said resilient sleeve-axially thereby to adjust the effective internal diameter of the thimble and consequently adjust its gripping effect upon the plug.

5. An attachment for doo-rs comprising a socket having a hollow bore withan inturned flange or rebate at one end and a plug to enter within said socket, said socket and `plug being mounted one upon the vmoving door and the other upon the xed frame therefor, a thimble within said socket, a sleeve of resilient material on said thimble, said sleeve being lodged against the inturned flange in the bore, a screwed member at the opposite end ofv said bore adjustable to compress the sleeve of resilient material axially therein and means whereby said compression effects anadjustment of ythe gripping action of the thimble upon the plug.

6. An attachment for doors comprising a' socket having a hollow bore with an inturned flange or rebate at one end and a plug to enter within said socket, said socket and plug being vmounted one upon Athe moving door and the other Vupon the fixed :frame therefor, a thimble within said socket, out-turned fianges at each end of said thimble, a sleeve of rubber upon said thimble, said rubber sleeve being lodged against Ythe inturnedl `fiangeof the bore in said socket, a screw threaded portion at ythe opposite end of said bore and a screwed meniberworking therein having a projecting rim to engage the side of the rubber sleeve opposite to that engaged by the flanged end of the bore.

7. An attachment for doors comprising a socket having a hollow bore with an inturned flange or rebate at one end anda plug to enter within said socket, said socket and plug being mounted one upon the moving door and the other upon the fixed frame therefor, a longitudinally split thimble, an out-turned fiange at each end of said thimble, a resilient sleeve mounted thereon projecting radially from the tip of said fianges for a substantial distance. said rubber sleeve being lodged against the inturned flange in the bore so that the thimble is not in metallic contact at any place with the socket, a screwed portion at the opposite end of said bore and a screwed member rotatable therein having a projecting rim-like annulus to engage the side edge of the rubber sleeve and compress same axially on rotary adjustment of said screwed member, whereby adjustment of the internal diameter of the thimble can be effected.

8. A door attachment comprising a socket and plugthe axes of which are located substantially normal to the planes of the parts to which they are attached, one being associated with the moving part of the door and the other with the fixed support therefor and being entered one within the other when the door is closed, a thimble within said socket, a sleeve of resilient material mounted on said thimble, an inturned flange at one end of said socket to locate said sleeve and to hold same in position without the thimble coming into metallic Contact with the socket, screw means at the opposite end of said socket to compress said sleeve axially and means whereby said axial compression` effects an adjustment of the effective internal diameter of the thimble.

9. A door attachment comprising a socket and plug, one associated with the moving part of the door and the other with the fixed support therefor, a thimble resiliently mounted within said socket and not in metallic contact therewith and means for adjusting the effective diameter of said plug.

10. A door attachment comprising a socket and a split resilient plug, one associated with the moving part of the door and the other with the fixed support therefor, a thimble within said socket, a sleeve of resilient material around vsaid thimble to form the sole support therefor and screw means for holding the thimble in place.

JOHN SAMUEL BEDFORD. 

